


Quieter Powers

by GretchenSinister



Category: Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-02
Updated: 2019-05-02
Packaged: 2020-02-15 20:52:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,089
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18677191
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GretchenSinister/pseuds/GretchenSinister
Summary: Original Prompt: "On Christmas Eve as North delivers presents Jacks rides in the sleigh with him delivering a white Christmas at his request. Afterward, North tells him stories of his life as a bandit king. Father/Son moment because I am a fan of both family fics with them and at times romance (the kinky part of my heart) as long as the two are never combined."Is is just me or is the last part of this prompt kind of hard to parse?I wrote gen, in any case. North talks to Jack about what he delivers that’s more important than presents, and what it might mean for Jack’s existence as a Guardian.





	Quieter Powers

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted on Tumblr on 7/1/2015.

What surprised Jack most about flying in the sleigh with North on Christmas Eve was how quiet he was once they were in the sky. He had been rambunctious, before the launch, rushing from the yetis loading the last of the gifts into his magic pack, to those stacking the boxes of snowglobes he would need to cross the globe in time, to the reindeer to check their health.  
  
As soon as they had launched into the air, though (with a great whoop from both), North had turned to Jack and said with a fond smile, “I am glad you are coming with me tonight, though I am not sure I will be the best kind of company.”  
  
And Jack had laughed and said he’d be busy, too. Anyway, North’s standards of gregariousness and good company were a little different than most people’s.  
  
And yet, if North had not given him that little warning, he might have thought something was wrong as they traveled over the world. He could tell North was happy, that he was having fun—he could tell that about anyone, now—but he was quiet. He smiled often at Jack, but just as often his expression was one of thoughtfulness or concentration as he reached into the pack to find the present for the next child. Sometimes he turned to Jack and told him something about the child—the best thing they had done that year, or the worst thing, or the thing they felt best or worst about. And even when these things were funny, he laughed quietly.  
  
Jack, half his mind speaking to the wind to ask it to carry a white Christmas to the ground below, found that even though North was acting very unusually, he very much enjoyed being with North this way. In all his years of craving company, Jack had grown unused to being the focus of attention, and it was comforting to be around someone who was mostly focused on doing something else. North could and would talk with him when he wanted to, and that was all he needed to know.  
  
And soon enough, North did, after they crossed Sandy’s path and Jack sent out little streams of snow to mingle with the dreamsand.  
  
“The snow looks wonderful,” North said. “I almost wish I would have asked you to go on ahead so I could see it after it has fallen. But it is better not to be lonely, yes?”  
  
“We’ll just have to go around the world twice,” Jack said with a smile.  
  
North smiled back. “Sandy would be very angry with me if I stayed up to do that. Especially because we are now taking the long way for a little bit.”  
  
Jack let go a last breath that would become wonderful skiing powder before letting the weather take care of itself again and leaning towards North. “Why’s that?”  
  
“Well, you have only ever seen me out during the tooth collecting. I am rather different, now. Do you wonder why?”  
  
Jack nodded. “I wasn’t too worried that you weren’t going to tell me, though.”  
  
North laughed a little at this—closer to his usual volume. “Then I am going to ask you about some things I hope you have noticed. First, I am stopping at every house. Every!”  
  
“Wait, yeah, that is weird—not all of those houses can have kids, and even if they did, not all of them believe in Santa. And I know you’re not setting up a Christmas tree people don’t want.”  
  
“Yes, this is true, but…” North moved one of his hands a little closer to his chest, nearer his heart. “I bring presents to those children who believe, and I make them the best I can with what I know of them, what they ask for, and what will not frighten their parents. But more important is the strength their belief gives me, for it is that strength that allows me to do what is most important. And that is to share my center with the world. On this night, I deliver presents, but I also stop to try to kindle and rekindle wonder in everyone. Sometimes it is easy; sometimes it is very difficult. It is perhaps something that could be done easier with the help of Tooth and Sandy, but wonder is my center, and I am so rarely around mortal people. I want to be responsible for all the giving I can on this night.  
  
And so that is why I am quiet. I am…listening for the places in hearts that can echo with wonder still, and trying to find the bell to ring there.” He grinned. “Also, I could wake up children who believe, and Sandy would not be pleased with that at all!”  
  
Jack rested his chin on his fist and just looked at North for a moment. “That’s awesome.” He paused. “I didn’t know—I guess it’s easy to forget that you do more than we see, when there’s so much to be seen to begin with.”  
  
“It is a common problem,” North said, “though maybe I exaggerate with Bunny, saying he is only about eggs, just to annoy him.”  
  
Jack laughed. “Your secret is safe with me. But, okay—did you bring me along just to tell me this? Because—I don’t know, there’s always the risk that I could slow you down, or something.”  
  
“I invited you along so that you would not be alone while making the white Christmas I asked you for,” North said. “And to show you what I was talking about before telling you. You are a Guardian now, and you have powers just as great and just as hard to grasp. I do not want you to be shy of them, even if they are strange, and even if they are quiet.”  
  
“Wow,” Jack said, leaning back against the seats of the sleigh. “I can’t wait to find out what they are.”  
  
North fondly watched the wind play with Jack’s hair, saying nothing more. He didn’t have to. He could tell at once that he had fulfilled his other purpose in bringing Jack out here on tonight of all nights as his eyes stayed bright with wonder at the thought that he could be even more than he was now, that becoming a Guardian was not a point of completion or an ending.  
  
North smiled and lifted the reins again. Good. But Jack wasn’t the last one he needed to bring wonder to, so—onward! 


End file.
